Draco's True Colors
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Third in the True Colors series. The colors of Draco Malfoy's life.
1. Black

**_LbN: Alright, here's the third installment! Happy reading :)!_**

**True Colors: Draco**

Draco set his forehead against the black oak of the front door after closing it. The auditors had been there, again, for the seventh Saturday in a row after The Battle. None of them seemed to understand that he and his mother simply wanted to be left alone. After all three Malfoys were acquitted, Lucius had up and left. Draco knew where he was, but pretended he didn't for his mother's sake. Apparently, his departure signified open season for the Ministry auditors, who had taken immense pleasure in visiting the Manor and confiscating things. They'd gotten all of the Dark objects out at Draco's request and with his help, but they still didn't trust them. Draco didn't blame them, but he would like a quiet weekend to himself. His weeks were filled with job searching, and so far no one wanted a reformed Junior Death Eater. This being the case, he could do with a relaxing weekend; but the Ministry wasn't quite ready to stop babysitting his family. He'd had to escort them around the house, with no room off limits, showing them everything. The second day had been the worst. One their first visit, they had simply taken inventory, confiscating things that would pose an immediate problem should either Draco or Narcissa decide to follow in Lucius' footsteps. The second time they'd come, they got down to business. They'd started in the downstairs dining room, ransacking their china cabinet and only finding a few poisons hidden under a panel. They'd worked their way through the kitchen (more poisons, and a cursed knife), office (blackmail papers, Death Eater documents) and the living room. They'd struck gold there, finding cursed hand bells (which Draco happened to be quite fond of), a cornucopia of Dark Arts manuals, another Hand of Glory (Draco neglected to tell them that this had been his), and six odd orb-looking things that Draco honestly had no idea as to the purpose of. They'd also checked the downstairs library and guest rooms, not finding much in either place. They'd come back the next week to flush out upstairs (Draco noted with a grim smile how bad things must have gotten for him to not have been embarrassed at the PlayWiz magazines found in his room…), and the fourth week had been spent with Draco taking them on an extensive tour of the hidden passages and panels of the house. The fifth week they'd given him back his hand bells, saying the only curse on them wasn't a dangerous one; it simply made the listener fall asleep. Draco couldn't shake the suspicion that his father had used those on him as a child. After giving them back to Draco, the auditors had gone to look in the attic. Last week and this week, they'd done two more sweeps of the house, and Draco had hoped that would be the end of it, but they'd informed him that they'd be coming to talk to him about the findings the next week. It was all very stressful.

The blonde walked into the mansion's upper sitting room and smiled, sighing. His mother had fallen asleep on the couch again while reading. She let him show the auditors around, stating that she hadn't the energy. Draco had a feeling she just didn't want to know the extent of her husband's…collection. He pulled a large black mink blanket over her and turned to walk out.

"Darling? Are they gone?"

"Yes Mother," Draco turned back to her. "I didn't mean to wake you. Will you be at dinner?"

"Of course," Narcissa smiled at him. "I wouldn't miss our evening time together. Now, you've been dealing with those stuffy pigs all day; go enjoy yourself."

"You should join me," Draco offered. "You haven't been out in ages."

"I think I'm going to finish my nap. But I'll see you at dinner, promise."

"Alright, if you're sure."

Draco walked back to the entrance hall and grabbed his cloak. With one last glance upstairs, he pulled the black oak doors open and left the house for a walk.

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	2. Red

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**True Colors: Draco**

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy!" one of the auditors said. Draco recognized him as Daniel, the one who'd given him his hand bells back.

"Please, just Draco," Draco said, opening the door for the three men. Usually there were more of them, but he guessed these were the leaders. They probably didn't need to bring everyone. "What will we be doing today?"

"We simply wish to talk. Is there a place?"

"The sitting room; it's just through here. Hold a moment; I'd like my mother to be here as well."

Draco left the men in the sitting room and walked to the office. He knocked on the glass door and opened it. Narcissa was there writing letters, the bottles of ink lining the red oak desk.

"Mother, the auditors are here. Would you join us? I think they're going to talk about our things."

"Oh Draco, darling, can't you take care of it for me?" Narcissa asked him. "I'm writing a letter to a friend, and I—"

"Mother, I think you need to be here this time," he told her.

"Alright," Narcissa nodded, standing up.

They walked back into the sitting room, where the auditors were conversing in low voices. The three Ministry men stood when they entered.

"Mrs. Malfoy," all of them nodded in unison.

"Have a seat, gentlemen, please," she smiled slightly.

"Thank you," one of them said. "I'm Lucas, this is Daniel and Christian. We've been leading the…er, investigation."

"Yes, Draco's informed me. Will there be any other searches done?"

"No ma'am, we're finished with that. We'd like to go over some things with you and your son, if that's alright."

"Of course."

"Well," he began, pulling out a small file. "In total, we found twenty seven Dark Arts texts, eighty three cursed objects, and fifty two poisons and illegal potions. That…" he cleared his throat. "That amounts to a fine of fifty seven thousand Galleons."

"Excuse me?" Narcissa's eyes widened. Draco's grip on the back of his mother's chair tightened.

"Sorry ma'am, but that is the law. The nature of most of the articles doubled or, in a few cases, tripled the already hefty fines. These fines need to be paid by the end of next month or we'll be forced to start seizing property."

"Excuse me," Draco gasped and walked, quickly, from the room. He walked back into the office and shut the door behind him. He was rich, but fifty seven thousand Galleons was a lot to anyone. Pulling out the bank statements, he poured half a glass of brandy, drained it, and glanced down at the parchment. It wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it would be, but it was bad. Draco took a few deep breaths and looked up when he heard a knock at the office door. It was Christian.

"Are you alright Draco?" he asked kindly.

"I'm…" Draco started. "No, I'm not. My dad's a Death Eater, I got conned into doing Death Eater stuff to save his ass, and my mom; after which he just takes off. So now no one wants to hire me. Now I have to pay, again, for his stupidity. I mean, it's not like it'll break us or anything, but it's coming close. Fuck."

"Listen," Christian said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright. I mean, you don't have to take the money straight from the account. Look around; you and your mom don't need half of this stuff. If you sell some of it you'll make up the money in no time."

"Yeah," Draco said.

"Here," the auditor gave him the notice. "Hang in there, okay?"

Draco looked down at the paper as he left. The numbers stood out in red ink against the parchment.

**TCD**

Draco wiped his hands on his cloak as he walked through the door. He pulled a letter out of his pocket and looked at it. Checking his watch, he ran a hand through his hair again and went to talk with the secretary.

"Hello, my name's Draco Malfoy—" he began.

"Yes, I know," she cut him off. "Have a seat; I'll inform Mr. Allen that you're here."

Draco nodded and sat in one of the comfortable chairs in front of the desk. Five minutes later, a short man with curly black hair opened the office door.

"Mr. Malfoy? Come on in," Mr. Allen said.

"Hello sir," Draco said, shaking his hand. He walked into the small office and sat in the chair the man indicated.

"I called you back to talk," Allen told him. "You took the test for the Research and Development program in the Auror department. No interest in field work?"

"Oh, no sir," Draco said. "I, er…I don't think I'd be a good match…"

"Potter isn't in charge," Allen said shrewdly. "If you're worried about bad blood…"

"Potter isn't the only one who knew my dad. I like the research just as well as the real stuff. I think it would be a great job; I'd do a good job at it."

"Well then, I'd like offer you the job. And, may I add, the starting salary is excellent; ten thousand Galleons per year."

"I'll take it," Draco smiled.

He shook the man's hand and headed out of the office, paperwork in hand.

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	3. White

**_LbN: Last chapter, hope you like it!_**

**True Colors: Draco**

Like his job though he did, Draco was really glad it was the end of the week. He'd planned on going out with some coworkers, but now he had a potentially time consuming errand to run. After sending an owl to his mother to tell her not to wait on him for dinner, he grabbed his bag and left the office. He walked down the street a bit to one of the Apparation points and left the London street behind. The alley he Apparated into was a drastic difference from the place he'd left. The decrepit brick buildings that surrounded him reminded him a lot of the murder novels his mom used to read to him when he was little. He glanced behind him, just in case, and walked out onto the sidewalk. Reading the numbers on the old buildings, he realized he was about a block away and began to walk. The next street over, he climbed the stairs and rang the bell on the slightly more well kept townhouse. He was the curtain move and heard a ton of deadbolts turn as his father answered the door.

"I thought I told you not to come here?" Lucius said, standing aside to let Draco in.

"You did, and trust me I was going to obey," Draco said stiffly. He walked into the small foyer.

"You know why I can't come back, Draco."

"I know your excuse for leaving mother and me, yes. But that's not why I'm here. I had another visit from the auditors—"

"I left you both money."

"I nearly drained my account paying off the fines from the shit they found in our house, and that's after I sold all the furniture in your reading room."

"How much is left?" Lucius asked.

"Ten thousand Galleons. Mother still has all of hers, and we're not going to starve or anything. However, the Ministry is charging us another five hundred Galleons to pay back the families you blackmailed."

"Wait, how do they know about that?" Lucius asked.

"They. Went. Through. Our. House," Draco said slowly, emphasizing each word as if his father was a two year old.

"You let them find those papers? You could have—"

"What? I could have what, Father? They were raiding our house because of you! If you'd wanted to hide it, why didn't you take it when you ran away?"

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me!" Lucius snapped.

"Why not?" Draco continued to yell. "You leave us when you know we're about to go in the shit because of you; then you want me to cover your ass again? Are you insane?"

Lucius began to pull out his wand, but Draco was faster. He disarmed his father and pinned him against the wall.

"Listen, all I'm asking is for once in your life, you stop being a coward and taking some goddamn responsibility. You blackmailed all those people, pay the money."

Draco let go of Lucius and took a few steps back. His father looked at him coldly before quickly scribbling a note on some spare parchment. He thrust it into Draco's hand and opened the door again. Without a word, Draco left the house. He didn't bother walking to the Apparation point. He simply Disapparated to Gringotts bank. As he walked up the white marble stairs, he felt relief for the first time since Potter offed the Dark Lord…

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